PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday prayed that 2018 will be much kinder than 2017, which he said unleashed a “big bang of sorrow and agony” for Filipinos.
Speaking to local government officials in Lanao del Norte, Duterte lamented the string of tragedies which hit the country over the Christmas holidays.
“We’re ending the year with a big bang of sorrow and agony,” the President said.
“It was not a good Christmas Day for all of us… From one sorrow to another,” he said, noting that the deaths were caused by “carelessness to accidents and typhoons.”
Duterte could only hope that the next year would turn out better for all Filipinos.
“I just hope that next year, Allah will be kind enough to give us a new beginning. I just hope it will turn out that way,” he added.
He also vowed that the government will try to bring normalcy to the lives of Filipinos with the fresh year ahead.
“We’ll see to it that what we promised will be delivered right away,” he said in Filipino.
On his second Christmas as President, Tropical Storm “Vinta” left more than 240 people dead from landslides and floods, with scores of others still missing in Mindanao.
Before this, Typhoon “Urduja” tore through the Visayas and Mindanao, leaving at least 41 dead.
In the President’s hometown of Davao City, a deadly fire gutted a popular mall on Christmas eve, killing 38 people, mostly call center workers on the top floor.
On Christmas Day, some 28 people were killed and dozens were injured in two separate accidents in La Union and Cotabato provinces.
Last week, eight people died after a ferry capsized off the waters between Dinahican, Quezon and Polilio Island.
Presidential son Paolo also abruptly resigned after a series of scandals hounded him and the first family.
Duterte, who was supposed to visit Marawi for the formal turnover of transitory shelters to families affected by the Marawi siege, said that he had to skip the event due to bad weather.
“I would have wanted to go to Marawi,” he said, but noted that in the bad weather, he could neither go by air or by sea.
The President said he has ordered officials to speed efforts and work on normalizing conditions in affected areas.
“As soon as possible, we have to go back to normalcy,” Duterte said.
Duterte also sought the immediate rehabilitation of government infrastructure damaged by the typhoons.